From eggs to just released Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
by Sharon Brown
(Apopka, Fl, USA)
Here I am world
I just happened to be standing close to a Florida Orange tree at a friends house and I noticed a Giant Swallowtail landing on each leaf and flying to next leaf. I wondered if it was a female laying eggs so I quickly grabbed a ladder and climbed up to where I had seen her land.
I was lucky and spotted an egg on one of the leaves so I took the leaf home and waited. Soon it hatched and I went to a big lemon tree to collect leaves for food. Wouldn't you know that one of the leaves also had a just hatched caterpillar so I brought it home too. As it turned out they were both Giant Swallowtails and they kept me busy everyday collecting leaves.
They both went into their chrysalis within hours of each other which was glorious but yet sad. I had gotten attached to those babies that I found. And then the big day came for them to be free and I have several pictures of the different stages which I cherish.
When I released them I was able to get a picture of one of them. I am very proud that they turned out so beautifully. Every time I see one I wonder if it could be a result of the two that I raised. You never know because anything is possible.
